MINNEAPOLIS — As she entered the postgame news conference, Connecticut Sun standout Marina Mabrey grabbed two packs of popcorn from a nearby table and a couple of sodas from a refrigerator after she’d scored 20 points and made six 3-pointers in her team’s 73-70 road win over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of their WNBA semifinal matchup Sunday.
“And a Coke Zero, too?” Alyssa Thomas joked with her teammate after a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds and featured 13 lead changes and eight ties.
The Connecticut Sun had earned the snacks and the praise, even though it’s hard to come by at times for the league’s top defensive team. With their disciplined style and reliance on paint production, the Sun weren’t always included in the highlight reels of the league’s best plays and players this season.
Sunday’s win over the hottest team in the WNBA since the Olympics break, however, proved that the Sun are worthy of the league’s top stage.
“It’s not unfamiliar to us,” said Thomas, who finished one assist shy of a triple-double (17 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists), about her team being overlooked. “I mean, I think it…
